BASEBALL

BASEBALL; Toll From Brawl: Three Injured, Eight Tossed

Published: June 7, 1993

BALTIMORE, June 6—
Seattle starter Chris Bosio sustained a collarbone injury, at least two players were bloodied, and a manager and seven players were ejected when the Mariners and Baltimore Orioles engaged in a lengthy brawl this afternoon.

The fighting began in the seventh inning of the Orioles' 5-2 victory after Baltimore's Mike Mussina hit Bill Haselman, who had homered earlier, in the left shoulder with a pitch. Haselman immediately charged the mound, and both benches and bullpens emptied.

The sea of players spilled from the mound over the third-base line, then moved past the first-base line. Baltimore reliever Alan Mills threw several punches, as did Seattle pitcher Norm Charlton.

Bosio, who returned from the disabled list May 28 after recovering from a broken collarbone, may have sustained a similar injury during the fight. Bosio will undergo X-rays to determine the extent of the damage, Mariners officials said.

"He re-broke his collarbone," said Seattle Manager Lou Piniella.

Baltimore catcher Jeff Tackett had a gash on his right cheek and Orioles reliever Mark Williamson, who had run in from the bullpen, had a cut on his nose.

Baltimore city police ran onto the field in an apparent attempt to restore order, but the umpires instructed them to simply keep the fans off the field. The brawl delayed the game for 20 minutes.

"You don't expect fights to last that long. You just expect the one pileup, then that's it," Haselman said. "After the first pile, I thought it was done. Then I looked over and another fight broke out, and then another one."

Mills, Rick Sutcliffe and David Segui were the Orioles ejected; Piniella, Haselman, Bosio, Charlton and Mackey Sasser were the Mariners who got tossed. 'It Was a Retaliation'

One inning before the incident, Bosio had thrown a few close pitches at the Orioles' Harold Reynolds. Piniella insisted that Mussina was throwing at Haselman in an attempt to retaliate.

"Mussina told one of our players he was instructed to hit him," Piniella said. "The amazing part was that it was a retaliation. We didn't hit anybody; there were no warnings issued."

Mussina said he had no intention of hitting Haselman, who had earlier homered.

"I was just trying to pitch him in. I thought we could get him out by going inside," Mussina said. "I didn't have good control late in the game -- I was going deep into the count a lot. Probably, because he hit a homer the previous time up, he thought I was throwing at him." No Accident, Haselman Says

Haselman said he was sure Mussina intentionally threw the pitch at him.

"His control was too good for this to be an accident," Haselman said. "It was pretty obvious. I don't go out there if he doesn't do it on purpose."

Piniella was ejected after arguing that Bosio, who had completed six innings, should not have been tossed from the game.

"They kicked out my starting pitcher, but their pitcher started the altercation," Piniella said. "He dropped his glove on the mound."

After being ejected, Piniella kicked dirt on the plate and then announced that he was playing the game under protest.